Luke's Fonic Christmas
by Oathkeeper05
Summary: Merry Christmas. Luke, Tear, Jade, Anise, Florian, Guy, Natalia, Noelle, Mieu spending Christmas in Keterburg together. Little SPOILERS ahead.


_December 23_

Luke and the others had just landed at Keterburg's port. It was also Florian's first time to be here and to spend time with the group in this place, and was visibly fascinated by the snow. The region of Jade's hometown was snowy as always, however what made the snow homey this time was that everyone's favorite season of the year was finally approaching: Christmas. Everyone had already planned with what they would do. They all already bought gifts to whoever they picked and to whoever else they would like to give.

After a visit to Nephry's, to give her and her family gifts, the group then decided to go immediately to the city's famous hotel.

Luke and Tear had been walking side by side the whole time, behind the others. Luke noticed through the corner of his eye that the girl was observing the snow that gently fell on them all, and he smiled because of that. He then looked up and saw how beautiful the sky was. Snowflakes landed softly on everyone's head. One landed on the top of his nose as his head tilted upwards. The cold zephyr sliced through every being's skin, while the stars glittered off of their dazzled faces. The ground was filled with cold snow.

After checking in, Luke decided to take a stroll nearby, with Mieu following him. He then halted in an elevated place, and leaned forward on the gate rail. Beneath, he saw the town's children playing happily, throwing snowballs, making snowmen and whatnot. This scene made him smile and helped him forget the thoughts of him disappearing completely in just a few days.

The beautiful sky caught his attention again. The moon was silvery beautiful as always. It gave light, and glimmered through the reflection of the still, almost frozen lake.

However, he was distracted by the abrupt fades of his body and the terrible pain it had inflicted on him, bringing him down to his knees.

"Darn… Argh! Not again, " he grunted.

"Master! What's wrong?" Mieu squealed, worrying.

It took quite sometime for the pain to abate, and for him to recover from it and stand up again.

_Asch? Is that you?_

_Hey dreck. How's hunting Master Van going?_

_The group decided to take a break for Christmas just for a few days. I'm sure that wouldn't hurt right? We've adjusted all the Sephiroths Passage way using my hyperessonace. I don't know how, but the Jade and Tear explained that it'll take a while before all Sephiroths could be accessible. Why don't you come here and celebrate Christmas with us? I'm sure Natalia would be happy._

_As much as I would like to spend some time with her, I decided I'd visit mother and father for once. I'll go now dreck. You better not get too caught off._

_Merry Christmas Asch!_

_Yeah, yeah. Tell Natalia I said Merry Christmas too._

The connection was cut off. Asch sounded quite… kinder back there.

After a few moments, a shooting star dashed across the sky. Seeing that, he closed his eyes, and made a simple wish…

"Hey! Luke! Where have you been?" the cheerful Guy exclaimed as he greeted the red-headed noble by the entrance.

"Just walking around, exploring the city. That's all," was Luke's reply.

"Well then, come on! We were on our way to the hotel restaurant. The Colonel says it serves some of the tastiest food in all of Audrant!" Anise said with a huge grin.

"Now, now, careful Anise. A proper lady's always careful of the amount of servings she eats. You might bloat." Jade teased.

"Boo! Hmph." The young girl crossed her arms, irked, which made Jade smirk.

"Oh yeah. Natalia, Asch sends his greetings to you." Luke said. This made Natalia grin the widest everyone has ever seen after a long time. Afterwards, they all headed to the restaurant.

Everyone was enjoying the meals served, not only because they were tasty, but it was all free too. The emperor had given them vouchers for the restaurant, so they didn't have to worry about it.

"Mmm… The food here is tasty!" Noelle said with a huge grin.

"Definitely! The chefs here might as well compete with the ones in our castle." Natalia stated.

Luke simply smiled at Natalia's remark. The food was quite tasty indeed, and yeah, the chefs from Malkuth and Baticul… ahh… Baticul. The thought of it lead him to think about home, about his parents… His strict and stern dad, and his frail but kind mother. Lost in his reverie while eating, the young noble could not help but feel a bit sad. He didn't care about the fact of him being the replica of their real son. He just missed them. Even when they found out he was a replica, they still considered him part of the Fon Fabre's, of their family. He definitely missed spending Christmas with them, and this Christmas might be…

"…Luke, hmm… you'll be staying at Room 407 A. It's by the East wing to be exact," said the Colonel. It had been quite obvious that the young scion of Lorelei had been daydreaming, and wasn't listening to the group's previous chatters about room assignments. Anise, however, didn't take notice of that.

"Colonel, all of us have an "A" in the keys." Anise was able to catch a glimpse of the last key he was holding "We all ARE in the East Wing." She spoke out quite loudly.

"Good then. At least some of us will be less scared of the bogeyman since we'll all be near each other, unfortunately." The Colonel lowered his voice with the last word, but tried to look problematic by rubbing the side of his temple. "Like a certain 13-year-old girl I know." Then he smirked. Anise just furrowed her brows and stuck her tongue out at the Colonel.

"Is that true Anise?" Florian asked, and then looked at his key, and a quick one at hers. "Don't worry. My room's beside yours. I'll go to you whenever you need me." Florian looked at her again as he smiled with a protective assurance on his face, which made both of them suddenly blush. Tear could not help but turn pink too because of how cute the two of them looked.

"And Guy, you'll be at Room 401 A." Jade told the blond. "That's near the elevator, in the other end of the wing. That'll somehow be to our advantage." Said he as his lips curled up into a mocking smile.

"Hey! What's that suppose to mean?" Guy scratched the back of his head, looking a little bit confused.

"Well, Guy, your snores… how can I say this… uhm… have a high gauge of decibels." Luke said. "And yeah, I still keep the dictionary you gave me for my birthday." The girls chuckled silently at what he said.

"Yeah! It's been nights since we've all had a good sleep, thanks to your…"

"Ahem… Anise?" Jade looked at her and had politely cut off her statement before any further rants may prolong their stay. "Well then, let's hit the hay, shall we? I feel quite tired myself," he said, and pretended to yawn at this, "After all, my old age is starting to weaken my bones. It's terribly agonizing." He swiftly stood up before everyone else.

"I bet he could run around Keterburg for two hours non-stop, still breathe normally and maintain a normal heart beat." Luke whispered to Anise.

"What was that Luke?" Jade asked.

"N-Nothing."

Luke had a pretty great room. It was big. There was an arch that seemed like a huge glass window, and at the same time there was a door that led to a small balcony. He took a quick look at his surroundings from where he had entered. On the far side of the arch was a queen sized bed beside a smaller window. On the other end was a plant, and where the bathroom and mini-kitchen were located. He took a quick look at the balcony, and saw a terrific view, and then went to sleep after a while.

Before the sun rose, he woke up and decided to go up the tall building, and stayed at its top for a clearer view of the city. He was again lost in his thoughts and was again startled, not by pain, but by a certain person's voice coming from behind.

"Luke, what are you doing up here this early?" It was Tear. She then stood beside Luke, looking at the snow falling on the town with glee.

"Shouldn't I be asking you the same question?" he replied with a slightly teasing smirk.

"I'm a soldier. It's already part of my instinct to wake up this early."

"Right."

The silence wrapped them for a few moments, but it wasn't an awkward one. They both had a great time on top. One would break this silence by telling the other what looked awesome or adorable. They were both enjoying themselves without even noticing it. When the sun rose, they both decided to go down and meet the others in the restaurant for breakfast.

"Good morning. I believe you both had a good night's sleep?" Jade was the first one on the table, eating toast and eggs.

"Good morning Colonel. Yes I had a nice sleep myself. I feel more relaxed than usual," Tear replied with a smile.

"Yeah! Me too!" Luke answered too, beaming widely, successfully hiding the lie from Tear, but not from the Colonel of course.

The others followed afterwards. They all talked about the potluck and gifts for Christmas Eve.

After eating, the group decided to spend the day in the city's enjoyable places, places that Jade had suggested **truthfully** for once. One of them was an ice rink. Although this one was outside, the people somehow had some song playing from some fon machine that could withstand the cold. All of them knew how to skate, except for Luke and Florian. Apparently, Daath, Baticul, and Sheridan all had artificial skating rinks.

The sight of the group enjoying themselves was very entertaining. Tear was teaching Luke, Anise tutoring Florian with small reminders from Guy, Noelle or Natalia, or some terrorizations from the Colonel once in a while. After the two replicas learned how to skate, slow music started to play. People started to look for partners to skate and somewhat dance with. Guy, despite his gynophobia, had the courage to ask Noelle out. The Colonel took the honor of doing the same with Natalia, and she took the honor of accepting his request. The other two pairs were quite timid at first, but after awhile, got the hang of it and held each other's hands. All pairs swayed as they skated. The boys even twirled their partners around. Everyone had fun.

After having fun for almost the whole day, they all went to this spot Jade also recommended to watch the sunset. They all were amazed by the exquisiteness of the sight when the sun had started to lay down yonder the mountains full of snow. Luke saw yet another glimpse of a face, Jade's face for that matter. He noticed that the Malkuth Colonel seemed quite sad watching the sunset behind the mountains, and that one of those mountains, which was in the near middle, seemed to have a slight crack in its front, but the Kimlascan noble didn't mind the crack anyway. Everyone was silent almost the whole time.

"We must be going back to the hotel now," Jade broke the silence, and tried to regain his usual front. Luke still noticed a hint of sadness in his eyes though.

They arrived back in the hotel shortly when night had blanketed the city. All of them prepared their gifts and the additional food to bring from the mini-kitchens of their own rooms. Afterwards, they went to the spot of the restaurant that had been reserved for them.

Everyone cheered as they started the Christmas Eve. All greeted one another. Afterwards, the group went to a porch and stayed there. They all reminisced about every single memory they could remember together.

The hours passed, everyone gave their gifts to whoever they picked. Anise could not help but shed tears a little when Ion and everything about him was mentioned. In fact, almost everyone looked quite saddened and were silent, except for Luke.

"Come on you guys! I'm sure Ion won't like it if we all mope here during Christmas!" he tried to cheer everyone up.

"Indeed." Tear then enlightened a bit. "Let his memories inspire us to complete this mission as well." Tear said.

"Yeah, and he really took a great deal of helping us. We've really had some wonderful times with him as well." Guy added.

"Hehe, you're right. Thanks guys." Anise rubbed away the tears using the handkerchief she received from Florian. The boy wasn't that exposed yet to the world, and Anise understood. She cheerfully accepted and appreciated the gift.

"Well then, shall we all celebrate a toast to Christmas and Ion with a few shots?" The Colonel announced. "Except however, for the two of you." He looked at Anise and Florian."

"You'll have to forgive the Colonel this time Anise. He is a law enforcer after all." Natalia said with a smile.

"Mieu can drink?" Luke asked, looking at the cheagle.

"Mieu... Master, the wines are like the concentrated fruit juices we make at home. A cheagle like me doesn't easily get affected by its effects unlike normal people." Mieu answered.

"Oh well... if worst comes to worst, try not to puke at me though." Luke said, and somehow looked slightly annoyed. It's usually about how squeaky Mieu's voice was.

Everyone was quite worn out. They all went in the nearest lounge and took a nap on the couches there.

As dawn approached, everyone started waking up. Again, they watched the sun's movements, but this time it was shinning for a new day. For Christmas day! And once again, everyone greeted each other, the moment not excepting Jade.

Of course, the Necromancer felt like giving a gift to everyone in the morning.

He asked some people to send a really big giant cake! It was Christmas colored too, and a star was on top of it. It also looked delicious!

The recipients were on their way to taste it.

*BOOM*

"Merry Christmas everyone." Jade smirked.

There...hahaha. I hope the ending wasn't too... out. Thanks for reading! :D

Merry Christmas! :D


End file.
